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HIRAM Y. KQBRIDE, 0F ARTESIA, NEW MEXICO, ASSIGNOR. TO rm STATES WOOL COMPANY, OF DENVER, CQLORADO, A. CORPORATION OF AEIZQNA.

PROCESS OE TREATING WOOL.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that/I, HIRAM Y. MoBiunu, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arte'sia, New Mexico, have invented a certain new and useful Process of Treating Wool, of which the following is a. specification.

The invention consists in a new and improved process of preparing raw wool for utllization by the consumer in spinning,

The term wool as herein used comprises the hair of various animals, such as sheep, goats, or other animals whose hair may be utilized for spinning'or weaving,or in other arts. Sheep wool will be mentioned as a particular example, but the conditions per taining to this wool exist in all wool when clipped, to a greater or less degree. 7

Raw wool, that isv wool as clipped from the animal, is usually tangled, knotted or matted and contains grease, suint, manure, dirt, and vegetable matter such as burs, twigs, etc.

The commercial method of cleaning wool has been a wet process, resulting in the production of a large amount of greasy andofi'ensive cleaning fluid which has usually been discharged into streams or into waste pools. In addition tothe obnoxious features of this disposition of waste'material,

the wet process is more or less inefficient;

the cleaning material employed more or less injures the wool and noadequate provision is made for combing, separating or straightening the wool incident to cleaning it.

. For the objectionable wet process I substitute a mode of treating the wool with dry material, and in connectlon with thiscleaning I provide for combing, separatin or straightening the wool so that the nal product is extremely clean, straigi it and free from knots or matted portions. he process does not in any respect injure the wool fiber and'the discharged cleaning material carrying the grease, suint and dirt with it is a substantially dry solid of inofiensive char-- actor and may be stored without creating.

objectionable conditions.

The process in one form consists in separating or combing the wool in 'the presence of a suitable dry cleaning material. This material is usually a finely divided substance "having as one important characteristic great grease-absorbing capacity. A very efiective,

Spebiflcation of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 15, 19 17. Serial No. 142,470.'

Patented m. a, rare.

and preferred material, is suitably treated gypsum or calcium sulfate. Preferably, thls gypsum is heated to drive oif practically all of its water and is pulverized more or less, the finer pulverizing being desirable smcevery fine material affords anincreased contact surface for cleaning purposes and is, therefore, most effective.

Instead of hydrated gypsum, treated as above, originally anhydrous gypsum suitably pulverized may be used.

The cleaning powder is applied to the wool 1n the process of combing, which is usually performed .in suitable -machines having toothed or spiked members to pull, straighten, separate and comb the wool fiber, and very quickly'loosens and absorbs the grease and, suint and moisture, and releases the other foreign material which is then easily discharged from the wool along with the cleaning, powder. Provision is usually made in the combing machines for discharging dirt at suitable places, as for instance, by providing screened bottoms in sirable in some cases consists in a particular way 'of handling the cleaning material, namely in taking the cleaning powder dis- I charged from the wool with its contained greases and dirt at a relatively late stage in the cleaning operation and transferring this material to the cleaning apparatus at a relatively earlier stage in the cleaning operation. As the wool progresses, it, of course, becomes relatively cleaner and the powder applied at a later stage in the process extracts relatively less foreign matter from the-wool. This powder is therefore still relatively clean and may be used over again in an earlierstage of the process to extract a substantial. part of the foreign matter from the relatively dirtier wool. Ina complete development of this feature of the invention perfectly clean powder will. be applied to the Wool at its last cleaning stage; this powder will absorb very little extraneous matter; the powder is thentaken to an mtermediate point in the cleaning operation and put through the wool again, and in this step it absorbs a substantial amount of extraneous matter and the powder becomes correspondingly soiled or impregnated with greases and dirt, and this relatively dirty powder may then be put through the wool again at the earliest cleaning stage, where it absorbs extraneous matter up to its absorption capacity. The powder is then fully impregnated with greases and dirt and is stored or treated to recover valuable constituents or otherwise disposed of. The disposition of the powder after performing its cleaning function does not constitute a part of this invention.

A further feature of the invention consists in applying the cleaning material to the wool'ia storage or receiving bins as the raw wool is received fromvarlous sources, or in applying the material to the wool on sorting or feeding tables adjacent to the combing machine. This preliminary application of cleaning material causes the separation of a large part of the dirt before the combing or separating process commences, and thus the operation of combing is facilitated and the machines are relieved of the necessity of disposin of a large part of the waste iriaterial. The application of the cleaning medium to the wool for an indefinite period has no injurious effect onthe wool so far as can be determined and, on the contrary, the effect of the cleaning medium is only beneficial. A further feature of the process consists in applying to the wool at a suitable point in the process a pulverized dry softening or lubricating material, such as talcum. In one form of the invention, the talcum is applied to the wool after most or all of the cleaning material and extraneous matter have been discharged from the wool. This application serves to soften and lubricate the fibers and to facilitate the final combing, which may be performed after application of the lubricant, and also serves to some extent to bleach the wool. A

variation of the process consists in applyafi'ected by the cleaning process as to any of its characteristics which are valuable in the arts.

Such material as suitably treated gypsum has been found to have remarkable capacity to attack and remove animal rease and suint, and in doing so to effectively remove other foreign material from the wool with a great reduction in the necessary manipulation of the wool. Whether the cleaning effect of the gypsum involves any intermediate chemical reactions, or whether the effect is purely physical, is difficult to determine,,butwhatever the action may be there is no evidence in the processof any injurious reactions and .the most careful inspecbest cleaning agent I have discovered, other 1 materials having a similar or equivalent effect may be used in some cases] Pulverized talcum is also the best lubricating and softening agent I have discovered u to this time, but other materials having similar or equivalent characteristics in respect to lubricating or softening the wool fiber, etc., may be substituted in some cases.

I claim 1. The-proc%s of cleaning wool, consisting in applying pulverized dry cleaning material to wool to preliminarily remove a large part of the extraneous matter therefrom and then combing the wool in the pres ence of similar cleaning material to separate and straighten the wool and at the same time remove the remaining extraneous matter.

2. llhe recess of cleaning wool, consisting in com hing and cleaning wool and thereafter applying a pulverized dry lubricating material to the wool. I

3. The processof cleaning wool, consisting in combin the wool in the presence of a pulverized dry cleaning material and a suitable proportion of a pulverized dry lubricating material.

4:. The process of cleaning wool consisting in combing wool in the presence of pulverized dry cleaning material in progressive stages and transferring the cleaning material from a relatively late cleaning stage to the wool at relatively earlier cleaning stage.

to utilize the full absorptive capacity of-the material.

mean it. MCBRIDE. 

